MINNEAPOLIS — With the school year now in full swing this fall, districts across the state of Minnesota continue to tackle the problem of chronic absenteeism, which has become more pronounced since the onset of COVID.
Overall, the number of students considered to be consistently attending school in Minnesota dropped from 85% in 2019 to around 70% in 2022, before rebounding last year to nearly 75%.
On Monday, the Minnesota Department of Education participated in a two-hour virtual session with the legislature's Student Attendance and Truancy Legislative Study Group. The state presented some numbers that shed more light on the scope of the problem, including a 2022 survey with 11th-graders that showed some of the reasons why students said they missed school.
Outside of health reasons, students reported missing class because they "didn't get enough sleep" (24%), "felt very sad, hopeless, anxious, stressed or angry" (21%), were "bored," (15%), had transportation issues (7%) and "had to take care of a family member" (5%).
Khulia Pringle, a longtime parent advocate in Minnesota who works 1-on-1 with families statewide, said a complicated web of factors is leading students to miss class. That includes a lack of motivation, easier access to online coursework, and environmental factors that have been exacerbated by the pandemic.
"Increased homelessness, increased poverty numbers, increased numbers of families being hungry," Pringle said. "Not just in chronic absenteeism, but just meeting families in general, districts struggle with that when it comes to family engagement."
That's the driving force behind a new attendance pilot program this year, which the state funded for 12 districts statewide. The largest benefactor of that funding, the Minneapolis Public Schools, is using part of the money to create student-led attendance teams.
Pringle praised that innovation as a "step in the right direction."
"Having student ambassadors, to me, is to be commended," she said. "When you have inspiration, and you have motivation, no matter how tired you are, you're going to make it happen."